Barrington To Begin Selling Town Beach Passes

BARRINGTON, RI — Barrington will begin accepting online parking applications for Town Beach ahead of a hopeful reopening of the beach as early as March 23.

Barrington officials posted on Friday morning that registration for passes will begin Monday at 10 a.m. Passes can then be picked up at the entrance to Town Beach at the first visit starting May 23.

Gov. Gina Raimondo had said that she hoped that beaches would be open in time for Memorial Day weekend. However, on Friday, she pushed back that timeline, saying that Memorial Day was "early" this year, and that beaches may not be open for socially distanced activity until the following weekend.

When asked about towns reopening beaches, and other services, ahead of the state's phased-in reopening timeline and blessing, she said: "That is a huge mistake."

Gov. Raimondo cautioned that the phases of reopening would be fluid based on new data. While often saying that the phases of reopening would be in two-week intervals starting with the end of the stay-at-home order on May 9, she sought to clarify herself during Friday's news conference that the ramifications of lifting restrictions would take about two weeks to occur. She said the time in between phases could be more like a month as those ramifications are analyzed and it is determined whether it is safe to further ease restrictions.

Access to Barrington Town Hall remains restricted due to the coronavirus health emergency.